Abstract
Abstract. The estimation of sea–air CO2 fluxes is largely dependent on wind speed through the gas transfer velocity parameterization. In this paper, we quantify uncertainties in the estimation of the CO2 uptake in the Bay of Biscay resulting from the use of different sources of wind speed such as three different global reanalysis meteorological models (NCEP/NCAR 1, NCEP/DOE 2 and ERA-Interim), one high-resolution regional forecast model (HIRLAM-AEMet), winds derived under the Cross-Calibrated Multi-Platform (CCMP) project, and QuikSCAT winds in combination with some of the most widely used gas transfer velocity parameterizations. Results show that net CO2 flux estimations during an entire seasonal cycle (September 2002–September 2003) may vary by a factor of ~ 3 depending on the selected wind speed product and the gas exchange parameterization, with the highest impact due to the last one. The comparison of satellite- and model-derived winds with observations at buoys advises against the systematic overestimation of NCEP-2 and the underestimation of NCEP-1. In the coastal region, the presence of land and the time resolution are the main constraints of QuikSCAT, which turns CCMP and ERA-Interim in the preferred options.
Highlights
Introduction most of the uncertainty inF CO2 is attributed to the estimation of k (Takahashi et al, 2009), which is mainly param-The CO2 emissions associated with human activity are eterized as a function of the wind speed
The wind speed clearly differs along the route from one product to another, with a noticeable bias exceeding 4.5 m s−1 among QuikSCAT and NCEP-2
We have studied the uncertainties of the gas transfer velocity in a coastal region and their impact on the estimation of sea–air CO2 fluxes
Summary
Introduction most of the uncertainty inF CO2 is attributed to the estimation of k (Takahashi et al, 2009), which is mainly param-The CO2 emissions associated with human activity are eterized as a function of the wind speed. Model-derived winds, from both analysis and forecast, have broad coverage and high temporal resolution, and account for a recent improvement due to the assimilation of satellite observations (e.g., Chelton and Wentz, 2005). Despite these advances, most atmospheric models have been developed to provide weather forecast over land regions, and minor efforts have been done to prove their skill over the ocean and coastal regions (Otero and Ruiz-Villarreal, 2008). Satellite-derived winds are expected to provide top-quality results in most of the weather conditions These estimations from remote sensors are affected by the presence of land in nearcoastal regions and have a lower temporal resolution
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